Thursday, May 19, 2016

A New Edition To The Yard

Lets start from the beginning....
Steven has had this plan to build a vegetable garden in our yard for years. Due to us having dogs (before they passed away) we didn't think it would work out *cuz HELLO, they'd eat them when we weren't looking lol*.  Then this past summer Steven's grandmother passed away, and she was an advid gardener, so I think between that and not having the dogs anymore, that really made him put his plans into action!!
And my husband goes big or goes home, people. Let me tell you! He saw this picture of a raised vegetable garden on Facebook and he wanted to build it. I'm the wife that says "Sure honey, anything you want", knowing full well he's absolutely nuts!
But anyway, a few weekends back, he woke up and went to Home Depot to get the supplies. TWOOOO hours later, he arrived home with a car full of wood. I helped him hold the wood while he measured and cut it. Then I helped him put it together. We were trucking along, until the power drill battery started to die out. By then it was like 4:00pm.... can we say DONE!  Dinner and a family movie night happened. So did going to bed early!
Then it was Daylight Savings Time day, and it made us miss church (a TOTAL bummer!). We got up, he ran to Home Depot again because we were short a little bit of wood and he wanted to stock up on more supplies, just in case. We were only there for an hour this time, haha! Then it started to rain. But we stayed the course and built what we could, before being too exhausted to do any more.  We came in, I made dinner, we ate as a family, then we all played a board game before having another family movie night. Went to bed a little later than we should of, but I'm the cool mom like that!
Once we had another free weekend, not caring that it was raining on and off all day, him and I went back out there to work on it some more. We put up all the chicken wire, which is way more of a pain in the ass than you'd think. But I kept saying to myself it's gonna be suppppper sweet once there are veggies growing in it!
Then the last weekend in March, he finished the project. It actually looks pretty awesome! I'm glad he decided to go ahead with it.
veggarden1Finally done!
Okay, so it's been a little bit since the garden was assembled..... but it was time to plant our veggies two weekends ago. We drove all the way out to our favorite garden store, got everything we wanted, drove all the way back home and Steven went right back out there and planted them all.
veggarden2Excuse the bags of dirt in the middle....
Can't wait to eat all the veggies! It's gonna be awesome!!!

Monday, May 16, 2016

Compassion International

Last Sunday, our church hosted a Compassion Sunday service. Afterwards, my family and I had the honor to walk through The Compassion Experience (it was set up in our church parking lot). An interactive, immersive display which allows you to step into the life of a child who had suffered under the crippling weight of poverty. From hardship to hope, we saw the transformation of Kiwi and Jonathan's story with the support from Compassion and the life-giving relationship with a sponsor. With God tugging at our hearts and tear ducts, we joined a partnership with our church and the country of Haiti to sponsor a little boy named Michelton.
Kiwi
Kiwi1
Michelton
A member of our church is partnering up with Compassion in Haiti to build a church and an orphanage. The blue sticker on Michelton's paperwork means he lives close to the orphanage and will be affiliated with our church. Very exciting!

Proverbs 19:17 NIV Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.

To learn more about this great group, please visit their website here.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Book Review: The Murder House by James Patterson

MurderHouse
GoodReads synopsis: 
No. 7 Ocean Drive is a gorgeous, multi-million-dollar beachfront estate in the Hamptons, where money and privilege know no bounds. But its beautiful gothic exterior hides a horrific past: it was the scene of a series of depraved killings that have never been solved. Neglected, empty, and rumored to be cursed, it's known as the Murder House, and locals keep their distance.
Detective Jenna Murphy used to consider herself a local, but she hasn't been back since she was a girl. Trying to escape her troubled past and rehabilitate a career on the rocks, the former New York City cop hardly expects her lush and wealthy surroundings to be a hotbed of grisly depravity. But when a Hollywood power broker and his mistress are found dead in the abandoned Murder House, the gruesome crime scene rivals anything Jenna experienced in Manhattan. And what at first seems like an open and shut case turns out to have as many shocking secrets as the Murder House itself, as Jenna quickly realizes that the mansion's history is much darker than even the town's most salacious gossips could have imagined. As more bodies surface, and the secret that Jenna has tried desperately to escape closes in on her, she must risk her own life to expose the truth--before the Murder House claims another victim.
Full of the twists and turns that have made James Patterson the world's #1 bestselling writer, THE MURDER HOUSE is a chilling, page-turning story of murder, money, and revenge.

James Patterson is my go to! His books are such an easy ready, and they always keep me interested. And this book was no different. While I was not feeling any of the characters, I did really enjoy the book. I honestly could not put it down! And I did figure out the killer almost right away, but it was still a good book all the same. If you like James Patterson, or crime suspense novels, this one is for you!

Friday, April 1, 2016

Typical Intro Post

The launch has finally arrived! My new blog is OFFICIALLY up and running!
So welcome to the new blog! 
I was on this platform before, then left to try something else.... but now I am back here and I couldn't be more happier about it! 
Some basic info about me: I am Melissa (duh!). I married Steven, who is definitely the love of my life, back in November of 2004. We have two children together, named Dylan and Delaney. No, the "D" thing was not planned, just happened to work out that way. I was a stay at home mom until last year. I am now a lunch lady at a grammar school in my town. I'm very much into reading books, playing video games, watching movies & TV shows, playing soccer and being outdoors. I have a different type personality than most. Love it or leave it is my motto.
 photo MelissaStevenNYC_zpsyshqijsk.jpg


I have recently updated all my social media. Find and follow me there so we can keep in touch.